Adjustable kettlebells??

emmab0902

Are these safe or is it better to get the individual ones.

Have seen this in NZ wondered if it is a good idea or not

http://www.elitefitness.co.nz/NordicTrack-Powerbell-Adjustable-Kettlebell/P1038/2668

chuckyp

Seems like a good idea in theory, but I wonder if you are using intermediate weights and some of the inserts are missing, how comfortable that will be on your forearms when you're doing cleans and presses and snatches.
And I realize that women start with lighter bells, but my wife started with an 8kg bell, and this one is only 10kg at it's heaviest so you might outgrow it very quickly. I don't think you would ever use or benefit from anything lighter than 8kg if you have any fitness base whatsoever. I have 12kg, 16kg, and 24kg bells and use different weights depending on which exercises I'm doing.

For the price, I think I would get 2 or 3 regular kettlebells. Like maybe an 8kg, 12kg, and 16kg.
I don't know what is available to you in New Zealand, but be careful with some of the cheaper Chinese kettlebells. They have seemingly non-existent safety standards there regarding heavy metal content in their products, just like the lead and cadmium we are always hearing about in the children's toys they make. There is at least one documented case of Cadmium poisoning from the coating used on a Chinese kettlebell from the constant grinding into the user's palm. Here's a link to a story about it: http://artofstrength.squarespace.com/poison-bells/

I like the bells made Dragon Door or by Art of Strength. The Art of Strength ones are made in the USA with safe coatings and they offer a thing called a "Kettlebell Buddy" that lets you screw 2kg to the bottom of their bells for when your working weight falls in between the major bell weights.
http://artofstrength.mybigcommerce.com/categories/Kettlebells/

Hope that's useful input!

bluebird321

I like the concept. Here are some reviews on a different brand.

http://www.amazon.com/Weider-SpaceSaver-Adjustable-Kettle-Bell/product-reviews/B0026M87T6/ref=cm_cr_dp_see_all_btm?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

IronSmasher

I agree with everything Chuck said, and suspect he's familiar with RKC.

TrainingWithTonya

Based simply on the fact that I had a client with the adjustable dumbbells that came apart while we were working out, I wouldn't recommend adjustable anything, especially kettlebells because you don't want pieces flying while you're doing swings.

Jo2926

Adjustable kettle bells would scare me - and as has already been said I'm not sure they would be comfortable for a lot of exercises.

I have cheap vinyl ones and they are OK, but I wish I had proper ones as the shape is not quite right - I imagine that adjustable ones might be even worse in that respect